From traditional Tax Day, April 15, 2016, through the final day to file in Maine and Massachusetts on April 19, hundreds of people in communities across the United States will take public action to call for a change
federal budget priorities away from military spending and to human and
environmental needs. Individually and in groups, many of these concerned
activists will divest from the Pentagon by refusing to pay some or all
of their federal income taxes, which help to pay for war.

Anne Barron, an urban farmer in San Diego, California, says, “San
Diego is a very militarized city, with a number of large war
contractors and military bases, but I have found people here are very
responsive to the idea of peacemaking instead of bombs.” At a press conference in San Diego on Friday, April 15, Ms. Barron will announce
her redirection of taxes to human rights groups in conjunction with an
announcement of grants from a group of individuals who pool their
resisted federal tax dollars into the Southern California War Tax
Alternative Fund.

Similar
announcements of tax redirection take place in Eugene, Oregon, New York
City, and Asheville, North Carolina. Other groups and individuals will
hold public rallies, vigils, and leafleting at post
offices, IRS offices, federal buildings, and town squares to bring
attention to the harmful effects of military spending. A list of Tax Day
events in the U.S., with links to similar actions around the world, can
be found at http://nwtrcc.org/programs-events/tax-day/action-calendar-2016.

Refusing
to pay taxes for war is an act of civil disobedience with a long
tradition in the U.S. The most famous instance was Henry David Thoreau’s
refusal to pay the $1.50 poll tax levied to help fund the Mexican War, which earned him an equally famous night in jail. Some
people resist by living below a taxable income or by no paying a small
part of the income taxes they owe. Others refuse to any of their income
taxes to the federal government despite the risk of IRS sanctions. “I am
psychologically unable to write a
check to maim and kill,” says Kathy Labriola, a counselor and nurse who
lives in the Bay Area of California.

Public
protests will take place at the Raytheon Missile Systems plant near
Tucson, Arizona; at the post office in downtown Colorado Springs; at
Federal Plaza in Chicago; at post offices across Maine; at the Army
Reserve base in Milwaukee; and at the headquarters of the IRS in
Washington, DC, among other locations. The full list with dates and
times is at http://nwtrcc.org/programs-events/tax-day/action-calendar-2016.

The
National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC) is a
coalition of local, regional and national groups providing information
and support to people who are conscientious objectors to paying taxes
for war. In 2016 actions are promoted under the slogan “divest from the
Pentagon, invest in people.” NWTRCC has coordinated tax day actions
since 1982 and has partnered with the Global Days of Action on Military Spending since 2011.

2 comments:

You folks just don't understand how government spending is done. If the tax base doesn't sync with the budget, do you really believe that the portion set aside for 'war tax' will change? They will just rob monies set aside for social services. I'm sorry to say, you folks are confused. I know you believe in your cause, but that doesn't make fact from your fantasy.

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Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox is an independent online radio show and blog that strives to be completely free from establishment political ideology and focus on a message of peace, justice, environmental sustainability and economic equality. To this end, we provide educational and inspirational programs on topics related to these issues and we organize/promote actions working towards peace, justice, and environmental sustainability.